Dedicating Fairfield-Vacaville Hannigan Train Station

Floor Speech

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Mr. GARAMENDI. Madam Speaker, we rise today to celebrate the naming of the Fairfield-Vacaville train station after our dear friend, Assemblyman Tom Hannigan.

Tom was elected to the Assembly in 1978 to represent his home town of Fairfield. Recognizing the importance of connecting our state capitol with the economic engine of the San Francisco Bay Area, Hannigan authored and passed legislation that created a plan for the development of an intercity commuter train system to connect the cities. In just four years, Hannigan was able to turn this plan into reality with the establishment of the Capitol Corridor train service that we know today.

Today more than 1.7 million passengers use the Capitol Corridor annually to commute along the 168-mile long route, which connects an entire region between San Jose and Auburn. Publicly managed by Amtrak, the train route maintains some of the highest ridership rates in our country.

Commissioned in 2008 by the city of Fairfield, the Fairfield- Vacaville Hannigan Train Station opened to its first passengers in November 2017. Over the past two years, the station has established itself as a model of the Capitol Corridor's community-oriented transportation system, with more than 3,600 passengers who originate their trips from the station every month.

By the time of his passing in 2018, Tom Hannigan had faithfully served his country in the United States Marine Corps and his community at the city, county, and state government levels for more than a quarter of a century. The dedication of the Fairfield-Vacaville Hannigan Train Station is a fitting memorialization of the legacy he has left behind for his hometown and all of those who continue to benefit from the Capitol Corridor train service.

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